Australians shrug off inflammatory racism
http://www.aussieseek.com
The phrase "only in America" is often used Downunder to scoff at the
eccentricity of Americans. But sometimes American media and
politicians show more good sense than eccentricity.
In one incident involving racism and sexism of a major media
personality, the Yanks have certainly shown more good sense than the
Aussies.
In the United States, popular talkback host Don Imus soon discovered
the cost of making racist and sexist slurs. After describing the
mostly black women's basketball team at Rutgers University as "nappy-
headed hos", civil rights and anti-racism campaigners immediately went
into action. They could tell a slur when they heard one. They knew
that the term "nappy" was used to describe the tightly-curled natural
hair texture of many African-Americans.
Rallies and protests were organised, one led by African-American civil
rights leader Al Sharpton outside the NBC offices.
"None of us has the right to use the public airways in the way that Mr
Imus has done," Sharpton told protesters.
Later, in an interview with Imus, Sharpton expressed the views of many
Americans: "You have anchormen from network news, you have senators,
you have presidential candidates that come on your show. Are we saying
that it is acceptable in the middle of these kinds of candidates and
anchormen for you to call my daughter a ho?"
Major corporations withdrew millions of dollars in advertising, and
big names Procter & Gamble and General Motors pulled advertisements
from Imus' show.
Imus was no small-time talkback host - politicians have used his
programme to announce their presidential nominations.
Imus has been dropped from radio and other programmes.
Let's compare the treatment of Imus with his Sydney equivalent, shock-
jock Channel 9 Today Show editorial commentator Alan Jones.
In the lead-up to the December 2005 race riots in the southern Sydney
suburb of Cronulla, Jones and his colleagues on Sydney talkback radio
station 2GB made a series of broadcasts which contributed to the worst
race riots experienced in Sydney.
The Cronulla riots were brought about by rumours that Middle East
youths from outside the area had assaulted two lifeguards.
In the days leading up to the riots, Jones and his colleagues read out
inflammatory and racist e-mails and fielded racist phone calls.
Jones didn't use his delay switch to stop the broadcast of racist
slurs and threats of violence. He seemed oblivious to the racism
inherent in the emails he read out, sometimes even endorsing their
contents.
In one broadcast, Jones endorsed the view that "biker gangs be present
at Cronulla railway station when these Lebanese thugs arrive ... it
would be worth the price of admission to watch these cowards scurry
back on to the train for the return trip to their lairs", and that "we
don't have Anglo-Saxon kids out there raping women in western Sydney".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=177&objectid=10438754